36 | MAY 6 • 2021
A
bigail Rojansky, violist with
the Verona Quartet, began her
musical leanings at a young
age after coming to an agreement with
her mom. Her professional accom-
plishments advanced as she came to
agreements with others.
Although Rojansky wanted to con-
centrate on ballet classes, her mom
wanted her to enroll in violin lessons,
following the avocation of the young-
ster’s grandfather. The agreement had
Rojansky studying both dance and vio-
lin, but over time, the ballet stopped,
and a preference for viola took hold.
When the Verona Quartet formed
some eight years ago — with violinists
Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro as well
as cellist Jonathan Dormand — there
would be brainstorming discussions to
come to agreements about what to play
at concerts that have toured them to
four continents.
With live appearance limitations
forced by the pandemic, the group
has conceded to digital concerts until
recently. Masked and vaccinated, the
quartet happily makes its second round
of stage recitals for the Chamber Music
Society of Detroit (CMSD) as the eve-
ning presentation also livestreams.
TWO CONCERTS
“We’re delighted to be performing three
pieces that we really love,” said Rojansky,
whose group will be onstage starting at
5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 15, at the
Seligman Performing Arts Center in
Beverly Hills.
“The first is a contemporary piece
(‘Quartet’) by Reena Esmail, who has
combined Indian classical music with
Western classical tradition in a magi-
cal way. A second piece is the Richard
Strauss ‘Sextet,’ and for that, we will be
joined by Nicholas Mariscal on cello
and Jordan Bak on viola; the piece
comes from the Capriccio opera by
Strauss. The third piece is the Dvorak
‘American Quartet.’
“The concert is strung from a broad
range of our repertoire and a variety
of generations and styles. The first
two pieces pay reference and homage
to folk cultures beyond that of the
Western classical tradition. Dvorak is
referencing late 19th century sounds
and folk music he was hearing in
America.”
Verona, on the faculty of Oberlin
College and Conservatory of Music
in Ohio, formed when members
were advanced students at Indiana
University. Their professional combi-
nation was encouraged by the Pacifica
Quartet, which has been featured by
the CMSD.
“I went to a music day school in the
San Francisco Bay area, where the vio-
lin students played viola,” Rojansky, 31,
recalled.
“I ended up playing both fairly seri-
ously until I decided to focus on the
viola at Oberlin, where I did my under-
graduate degree.
“After Indiana, we went [on faculty]
to the Julliard School as a quartet and
then to the New England Conservatory
as a quartet. We’ve been so fortunate to
have performed at places like Carnegie
Hall in New York and the Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts in
Washington, D.C.”
ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC
Verona Quartet performs live for the
Chamber Music Society of Detroit.
ECLECTIC STRINGS
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Details
The Verona Quartet presents con-
certs at 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, May
15, at the Seligman Performing Arts
Center, 22305 W. 13 Mile, Beverly
Hills, where the later performance
will be accessible remotely. $10-
$30 live (with encore online access
for a week); $5-$15 digital (available
for one week). (313) 335-3350 or
cmsdetroit.org.
Verona Quartet: Jonathan Ong, Abigail
Rojansky, Dorothy Ro, Jonathan Dormand